Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and includes five structures. less

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and ... more

Photo: Contributed Photo / Contributed Photo

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Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and includes five structures. less

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and ... more

Photo: Tim Lee / Contributed Photo

Image 3 of 32

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and includes five structures. less

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and ... more

Photo: Tim Lee / Contributed Photo

Image 4 of 32

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and includes five structures. less

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and ... more

Photo: Tim Lee / Contributed Photo

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Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and includes five structures. less

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and ... more

Photo: Tim Lee / Contributed Photo

Image 7 of 32

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and includes five structures. less

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and ... more

Photo: Tim Lee / Contributed Photo

Image 8 of 32

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and includes five structures. less

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and ... more

Photo: Tim Lee / Contributed Photo

Image 9 of 32

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and includes five structures. less

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and ... more

Photo: Tim Lee / Contributed Photo

Image 10 of 32

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Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and includes five structures. less

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and ... more

Photo: Tim Lee / Contributed Photo

Image 12 of 32

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and includes five structures. less

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and ... more

Photo: Tim Lee / Contributed Photo

Image 13 of 32

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and includes five structures. less

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and ... more

Photo: Tim Lee / Contributed Photo

Image 14 of 32

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and includes five structures. less

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and ... more

Photo: Tim Lee / Contributed Photo

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Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and includes five structures. less

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and ... more

Photo: Tim Lee / Contributed Photo

Image 17 of 32

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and includes five structures. less

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and ... more

Photo: Tim Lee / Contributed Photo

Image 18 of 32

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and includes five structures. less

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and ... more

Photo: Tim Lee / Contributed Photo

Image 19 of 32

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and includes five structures. less

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and ... more

Photo: Tim Lee / Contributed Photo

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Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and includes five structures. less

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and ... more

Photo: Tim Lee / Contributed Photo

Image 22 of 32

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and includes five structures. less

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and ... more

Photo: Tim Lee / Contributed Photo

Image 23 of 32

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and includes five structures. less

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and ... more

Photo: Tim Lee / Contributed Photo

Image 24 of 32

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and includes five structures. less

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and ... more

Photo: Tim Lee / Contributed Photo

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Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and includes five structures. less

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and ... more

Photo: Tim Lee / Contributed Photo

Image 27 of 32

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and includes five structures. less

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and ... more

Photo: Tim Lee / Contributed Photo

Image 28 of 32

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and includes five structures. less

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and ... more

Photo: Tim Lee / Contributed Photo

Image 29 of 32

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and includes five structures. less

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and ... more

Photo: Tim Lee / Contributed Photo

Image 30 of 32

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Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and includes five structures. less

Tavern Island is back on the market for $8.7 million. Accessed via a five minute boat ride from the mainland address at 75 Bluff Avenue in Rowayton, the island compound has been immaculately maintained and ... more

Photo: Contributed Photo / Contributed Photo

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Stunning island estate on the market for $8.7 million

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NORWALK, Conn. — For all that is elaborate about Connecticut’s famed Tavern Island, it’s the simple features that represent its aura best.

The empty room with nothing more than a yoga mat in the caretaker’s house, the spot on the dock where a friendly black dog named Geisha waits for that same caretaker to return, the impressive 300-year-old Copper Beech Tree that’s outlived every other being who’s called the island home, and the soft breeze that never stops but carries in the salty scent and peaceful sounds of the water lapping at its shores.

Though the Manhattan skyline looms in the distance on a clear day, Tavern Island couldn’t be further removed from the city.

“It has restorative powers ... you can just take a deep breath and leave everything behind,” said Nancy Dauk, a listing agent for Halstead Property and the latest to take on the task of selling the unusual property.

Arguably the crown jewel of the Norwalk Islands, the 3-acre oasis has been plagued in equal parts by the perceived challenges of island life and an unparalleled uniqueness that only appeals to very few.

The island estate first hit the market in 2012, just a month before Superstorm Sandy blew through the Connecticut coastline. Though the island was virtually untouched, the relatively uncommon weather event decimated the market for such a property.

“The first two years it was on the market, there was no market,” said Barrie Zesiger, who has called the island home for three decades with her husband, Al Zesiger. “It is a special place but a lot of people have fear.”

Dauk and the team at Halstead Property are hoping to net a buyer with a lower price point — $8.7 million compared to the original $12.9 million price tag — and a new approach.

“You just have to find the right person,” Dauk said. “We feel this new price will entice a buyer who will appreciate the restorative power, the complete privacy ... We are emphasizing the infrastructure this time around. We’ve staged and repainted and put together a crisp, clean presentation emphasizing the lifestyle and how easy it is.”

First settled by English colonists in 1651, Tavern Island was originally called Pilot Island. It was home to the harbor pilot, a mariner who maneuvered ships through the island chain.

Though no one can pinpoint when it picked up the Tavern moniker, the island is known for a long and storied history as the place to party for everyone from those evading the confines of prohibition in the 1920s, to guests of former owner and theater legend Billy Rose — most notably Marilyn Monroe. The Zesigers, however, have spent the past three decades embracing the property’s more meditative characteristics.

“It’s funny because none of us are big drinkers out there,” Zesiger said.

The Zesiger’s first purchased the property in 1981 for less than $1 million. It was rugged, overtaken by peacocks brought to the island by Rose, and hardly had utilities. The Zesigers put in a septic system, worked with the city to run utilities through an underwater conduit and, in Zesiger’s words, returned the island to nature.

They also renovated the circa-1900 main house, installed a 75-foot gunite pool and completely redesigned the wharf and dock at both the island and 75 Bluff Ave., the site of a garage, driveway and boat ramp to access the island.

“You often think of an island as run down,” Dauk said. “This is anything but that. They thought of everything.”

Though the Zesiger’s mostly frequented the property on weekends, Darien native Mike Hart has called the island home for two decades as the island’s caretaker. He first fell in love with the island at 14 when he noticed construction occurring and offered to help.

“I’ll carry wood for free,” he recalls telling the workers. “Then they hired me for a summer, and later it was either go to college or work here full time. I knew if I went to college, this opportunity wouldn’t be here when I finished ... It’s awesome in so many ways. And I mean that in the truest sense of the word, it’s truly awe-inspiring.”

“It was wonderful because over time — he was very young when we hired him — he got to where he could do everything up to a certain point," Zesiger said. “It was wonderful, and of course what we loved is that the three of us all shared the same values, our love of the environment, the quiet, the absolute sense of peace you can get there."

Hart has also been the one to ferry boatloads of realtors and prospective buyers from the mainland to the island for the past five years. The listing gets better every time, he said, and he’s hopeful Dauk and her team will be the ones to find someone who appreciates it as much as he and the Zesiger’s have.

And though it’s gone five years without a buyer, the property has garnered interest and is often at the heart of rumors about yet another celebrity — from Justin Timberlake to Heidi Klum — who might be the next to take up residence in Norwalk.

Dauk said she wouldn’t be surprised if one of those rumors turned into reality and the home landed in the hands of a celebrity looking to escape.

“I picture someone with multiple homes, maybe an apartment in the city, but someone who wants to get away from a busy high-pressure job,” Dauk said. “The challenge is finding the right person who appreciates island living.”